All of Me
by Karen Weasley
Summary: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. WesternMuggleAU! Fred and Hermione fell in love in New York, but they had to separate when Fred went out west, and Hermione stayed behind to get married. But will their hearts end up drawing them back together in the end?


**Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. The challenge this round was to choose a little-used genre – I chose** _ **Western**_ **, and my optional prompts were:** _ **(dialogue) "So…what exactly is that?", (word) keyhole, and (song) "My Immortal" by Evanescence**_ **. I hope you all enjoy!**

 _ **All of Me**_

Fred Weasley shouted in frustration and threw a stick onto the fire before launching himself to his feet and storming around the campfire in obvious frustration.

"Another letter from that Granger girl?" his brother George said sympathetically from his seat by the fire.

"I'm sick of it George: SICK OF IT!" Fred roared, running his hands through his bright red hair, ruffling it even more than his hat had done. "She won't make up her mind!"

"So she's marrying him again?" George sighed.

"She says she doesn't have a choice, but that she still loves me – as if _that_ makes things any easier. I just wish she'd end it, you know? Then at least I could be in pain and move on, but this…she just won't leave me alone."

"You know, sometimes I wonder if coming out here was such a good idea for you," George observed, taking a drink of whisky from his flask.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I think coming out here for you was kind of like looking into a house through a keyhole and deciding you're going to live there. You didn't have the whole picture, and now that you do, you don't like it as much. You'd rather be at home with her."

"Even if I had stayed, she wouldn't have taken me," Fred argued bitterly. "She was already engaged to that Italian guy when we hooked up. She went to him for the money and me for everything else."

"Let her go, Fred. She's not worth the heartache if she didn't want to give up her cushy lifestyle for you. Maybe, instead of getting pissed after each letter, you should write her back and let her have it."

"Have what, exactly?" Fred demanded.

"Tell her how you feel," George shrugged. "Tell her you're tired of being led to hope and then despair within the space of five minutes. Say she has to choose…you won't keep being there for her if she wants to stay in New York."

Fred thought about his brother's words, staring deep into the fire. He thought about all those times he and Hermione had run around New York together, exploring and being in love. He remembered holding her when she cried, laughing when she laughed, and dreaming of a future out west together.

But Hermione had ruined all that when she announced that she was engaged to some rich Italian named Blaise. She claimed she had to marry him to further her family's hard-earned wealth, and Fred had left the next day. The wounds caused by her rejection still wouldn't heal, and the pain in Fred's heart was still all too real even as he and his brother became cowboys and willingly helped Sheriff Potter in the nearby town.

Fred had not felt right since he left Hermione behind, but the constant wondering about whether or not she would choose him wasn't helping either. Maybe George had a point…maybe it was time to move on and let her go.

 _ **FWHG**_

Hermione paced around her room in New York, cursing her own decisions and her predicament. She wanted nothing more than to be running around the unexplored West with Fred, and instead she was neck-deep in planning for a wedding she wanted no parts of.

Part of her wanted to hate Fred for how he had changed her life. She had been fine with the idea of marrying Blaise – not happy, but fine – until she had met Fred and fallen in love with everything about him. His childlike humor and bright twinkle in his eyes had drawn her to him from the beginning, and she had never been happier than when he had simply been holding her close and loving her.

They had been so happy together, but she hadn't had a choice! She had to marry Blaise, but now she was miserable, blinded by Fred's undying light in her heart. Her dreams were constantly haunted with his face, laugh, and expression when she had told him she was staying in New York. If she could just let him go, everything would be fine, but no matter how many times she tried it never worked.

In her last letter, she had insisted that she would be marrying Blaise, and yet here she was – pacing her room and waiting for Fred's reply, putting off tea with her fiancé.

"Miss Granger?" her personal maid called from the door. "There's a letter for you, Miss."

Hermione bolted across the room and eagerly pulled the letter from her maid's hands.

"Master Blaise would like to know when you will be joining him, Miss," her maid prompted quietly.

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute," Hermione said, staring at the envelope in her hands.

"But Miss," her maid pressed.

"Tell him I'll be there in a minute!" Hermione repeated, slightly annoyed now. "I'm sure another few moments will not kill him."

Hermione's maid withdrew from the room, and Hermione tore into the envelope desperately. Her eyes flew back and forth across the page, and with each word, she felt her heart break more and more. She sank down onto her bed and reread the letter, unable to believe a word. She only realized how long she had been sitting there when a loud banging sounded on her door just before the door opened to reveal her very annoyed fiancé.

"What on Earth is keeping you?" he demanded. "I tried being nice, but I specifically requested your presence at least half an hour ago! What are you doing in here?"

Hermione did not answer, and her eyes did not come up from the letter in her hands.

"So…what exactly is _that_?" Blaise growled, seizing the letter from her hands.

"Give me back my letter!" Hermione cried.

"Do not speak to me like that!" Blaise snapped, returning his eyes to the letter, and his face grew more and more furious with every word he read.

"' _I feel like our time together in New York meant nothing because even though we were together, you were already thinking about someone else – I almost wish I had stayed alone. I love you more than anything, but I can't live my life here while you have my heart in New York. If you are determined to remain there and go through with your lie of a wedding, then I need to know NOW so that I can take my heart back and move on. I will consider your next answer your final answer, Hermione, so please think carefully about your answer._

 _All my love,_

 _Fred Weasley'_ ," Blaise finished reading with a smirk on his face.

Hermione sat, her face flushed with embarrassment, anger, and tears.

"So, this is the boy you kept sneaking off with," Blaise sneered. "Did you think I didn't know?" he laughed at her shocked expression. "Well, it doesn't matter now. You will write back and tell him the marriage will be proceeding as planned like the good little wife you are."

Hermione felt his words ignite a fire that had not been lit since she last kissed Fred. Fred had once told her that she was better than doing what someone else told her, and yet she had allowed someone else to pull her away from him. She had been so wrapped up in pleasing everyone that she had ignored the most important person: herself. Not this time…

"No," Hermione hissed.

"What was that, my dear?" Blaise replied dangerously.

"I said no," Hermione repeated. "I will _not_ be proceeding with the marriage as planned. I'm in love with Fred, and I'm tired of denying it, especially to myself. He told me I should have gone with him, and he's right! He loves me and treats me like a real woman unlike you! I'm leaving…tonight!"

"And what will your parents say?" Blaise asked. "Do you honestly think it will be as simple as walking out the front door? I will not allow you to leave this house!"

"You can just try," Hermione growled before smacking him over the head with her parasol that was leaning against her nightstand.

Blaise collapsed on the floor, and Hermione immediately began shoving necessary clothes and money into a bag. She had a train to catch, and a love to save.

 _ **FWHG**_

Fred and George urged their horses faster and faster across the open desert, racing to see who would reach the train station first. They were picking up a batch of supplies for the town as a favor for Sheriff Potter, but they were determined to enjoy themselves in the process.

"Keep up, slow boy!" George laughed over his shoulder.

"Stop laughing and start riding because here I come!" Fred called back, urging his horse faster until he flew past his twin with a laugh of his own. "Now who's the slow boy?"

This continued all the way to the station where they gave their horses a much needed break while they waited for the train to arrive.

"Heard from that Granger girl yet?" George asked hesitantly.

"No, and I'm beginning to think that's my answer," Fred sighed. "I should probably start looking around here for a girl."

"What about that one that works at the saloon?" George suggested. "You know, the one that's obsessed with you."

"I have higher standards than that," Fred replied shortly. "She's been with every cowboy that comes through town!"

George just shrugged. "Here comes the train," he announced as they finally heard the whistle sound.

Once the train pulled into the station, Fred and George headed over to the luggage car. "Here for the new shipment, boys?" the conductor called.

"Yep! Favor for the Sheriff!" Fred called back.

"I'll have it out for you in a minute!" the conductor said.

"We may actually be able to get it back tonight if we hurry," George observed.

"It would be nice to have a bed to sleep in," Fred agreed. "I wasn't really looking forward to sleeping outside tonight. Oh, excuse me, Miss," he added as a woman bumped his arm as she struggled to maintain her hold on her large bag.

"It's my fault," the woman replied, and Fred felt his heart stop at the sound of her voice.

"Mione?!" he gasped in disbelief.

The woman's eyes snapped up to his, and she gasped as well, her bag falling to the ground with a thud. "F-fred?"

"What are you doing here?!" he asked, his jaw still on the floor.

Hermione hung her head. "I came to tell you I'm sorry for not coming sooner. I should have left with you months ago. I don't want to marry Blaise…I want to be with you. That is, I want to be with you if you'll still have me."

Fred stared at her for a moment before he seized her middle and twirled her in the air. "Of course I'll have you!" he cried. "You're the only woman I've ever even considered being with, I just never thought you'd pick me," he admitted as he set her back on the ground.

"Well, to be perfectly honest," Hermione smiled, "I wanted to make sure your heart was where you were, and I wanted to be with my heart too. You've had it since the first time you smiled at me."

Fred cupped her cheek gently and smiled as he pulled her in for a kiss, and suddenly, all the pain of the past few months melted away as their hearts were finally reunited.


End file.
